NĀZ U NİYĀZ: AN INCOMPLETE MATHNAWI ON ITS WAY TO HUSN U ASHK

It was unknown until recently that Kechedj̲i-zāde İzzet Molla who was believed to have penned only two diwans and two mathnawis, also had another unfinished mathnawi. The Mathnawi, that already has a title despite the plot being half finished, consists of an ‘Introduction’’, which comprises 302 couplets. The text is only to be found in the two manuscripts of the poet’s short diwan named Khazān-ı Āthār. The text, titled as ‘Nāz u Niyāz’ in both the manuscripts, resembles Shaykh Ghālib s famous mathnawi Ḥüsn u Ashḳ with regards to the title and prologue. It is clear that, the author who had previously written a nazirah to Ḥüsn u Ashḳ and titled it Gulshan-i Ashḳ, had this time contrived to produce a more powerful fiction but could not succeed in completing it. This article introduces Kechedj̲i-zāde’s missing mathnawi Nāz u Niyāz and makes a textual critic, based on the comparative analysis of the surviving two manuscripts. The text in hand must be seen as an important contribution that illustrates İzzet Molla’s literary persona and the value and influence Shaykh Galib’s Hüsn u Ashk has had.